A St. Petersburg court has sided with residents in a dispute over the fate of Shuvalovsky Forest, rejecting a developer’s attempt to overturn its designation as a recreational zone. The decision was met with applause from a packed courtroom, but the battle is far from over, as the company plans to appeal.

The legal dispute centers on two plots of land totaling 13.86 hectares owned by “Specialized Developer ‘Vektor’,” a company linked to Alexey Ryzhkov, co-owner of Seven Suns Development. Vektor sought to have the land’s designation reverted from a recreational zone R2 to a zone of high-rise residential development, a change that was initially approved on appeal but has now been overturned.

The Shuvalovsky Forest is a popular recreation area for residents, who regularly use it for walks and community clean-up events. The forest also serves as a buffer between residential areas and a remaining industrial zone.

The Legislative Assembly argued that urban planning standards and the situation in the microdistrict had changed significantly since the territory was designated for residential development in 2015. The relocation of part of the nearby industrial zone, coupled with the construction of 400,000 square meters of housing and a population increase of 14,000 residents, has exacerbated the shortage of social infrastructure.

Despite not being formal parties to the case, local residents have actively campaigned to protect the forest. The court was presented with numerous appeals from residents urging the preservation of Shuvalovsky Forest, highlighting the strong public sentiment on the issue.

Lawyers for the developer argued that the establishment of a recreational zone would not address the need for social facilities and emphasized that the land is privately owned, even suggesting they could fence it off entirely. They also claimed the designation does not preclude construction, a point countered by the governor’s representative, who noted that the law allows for the construction of cultural, leisure, sports, and public facilities within the zone.